Location sensitive queues management

ABSTRACT

The disclosure relates to technology for determining locations of approaching recipients of online pre-requested or pre-ordered goods/services. Physical waiting queues and/or wait-lists are managed so that the goods/services will be provided without excessive wait times or unacceptably long wait lines or inferior quality in the provided goods/services. Resolution of location determination becomes finer and finer in one embodiment as the recipients get closer to the provisioning spot. If there is a change of plans, the recipients are notified ahead of time so as to avoid last minute surprises or disappointments.

BACKGROUND

There is a growing demand for customer-centric online order andappointment/reservation processing. Providers who are asked to providerequested goods and/or services in timely and high quality manner toonline requestors or to commit to appointments or reservations for thesame often have to cope with surges and ebbs in volume of arrivingorders/appointments and variations in resources at hand for satisfyingcustomer/patron requests as well as coping with fluctuating flows ofpatron traffic in and out of their establishments. Customer relationsmay suffer if a patron is made to wait for unexpected long times orasked to accept inferior servicing.

By way of a nonlimiting example, a fast food restaurant may feature adrive through window for which customers can pre-order items online,optionally pre-pay online and then drive in along a designatedquick-pickup traffic lane to pick up their respective pre-ordered andoptionally pre-paid items at a scheduled time or in a scheduled timespan. However, if too many orders come in at once, the kitchen may notbe able to handle the surge in production demand. If too many vehiclestry to drive up at the same time onto the drive-through lane, thelimited length of the lane may not be able to accommodate the incomingtraffic surge. If there is substantial time delay between earlycompletion of food preparation and late pick up time at the drivethrough window, the ordered food items may decay in quality and thus beno longer hot and fresh or otherwise in acceptable condition forconsumption. If there is a backup in production and customers have tocircle the block or have to park around the back and wait, the wholepurpose of convenient pre-ordering and quick pick up is defeated. Alsoif the parking lot has finite space, it may overfill. Any of theseproblems and yet further problems can result in customerdissatisfaction, decline in goodwill and loss of business. Solutions areneeded.

It is to be understood that some concepts, ideas and problemrecognitions provided in this description of the Background may be novelrather than part of the prior art.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one embodiment, there is provided a machine-implemented method thatis responsive to locations of prospective recipients of online requestedgoods/services that are requested to be provided at planned provisioningspots, where the method comprises; (a) assigning a temporary transactionidentification sequence (TID) to a prospective recipient and torequested goods/services of the prospective recipient that are requestedonline to be provided at a respective planned provisioning spot; (b)downloading the assigned TID into a location revealing mobile device ofthe prospective recipient; (c) repeatedly determining the location ofthe mobile device based on wireless transmissions by the mobile device,the transmissions providing the assigned TID; (d) based on therepeatedly determined location, determining a separation (e.g., in timeand/or distance) between the prospective recipient and the plannedprovisioning spot; (e) in response to the determined separation of theprospective recipient from the planned provisioning spot, determiningwhether to commit to providing the requested goods/services; and (f) inresponse to determining to commit, informing the prospective recipientof the commitment.

In one embodiment, the method uses the repeatedly determined location tonot only determine whether to commit but also when to commit.

In one embodiment, there is provided a computer system comprising one ormore processors and a memory having collectively stored thereininstructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causethe one or more processors to: (a) assign a temporary transactionidentification sequence (TID) to a prospective recipient and torequested goods/services of the prospective recipient that are requestedonline to be provided at a respective planned provisioning spot; (b)download the assigned TID into a location revealing mobile device of theprospective recipient; (c) repeatedly determine the location of themobile device based on wireless transmissions by the mobile device, thetransmissions providing the assigned TID; (d) based on the repeatedlydetermined location, determine how far away the prospective recipient isfrom the planned provisioning spot in terms of at least one of radialdistance, effective distance and chronological distance; (e) in responseto at least one of the determined distance-wise and/or timewiseseparations of the prospective recipient from the planned provisioningspot, determine whether to commit to providing the requestedgoods/services; and (f) in response to determining to commit, inform theprospective recipient of the commitment.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter. The claimed subject matter is not limited to implementationsthat solve any or all disadvantages noted in the Background.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of example andare not limited by the accompanying figures for which like referencesindicate like elements.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an environment in which a provider ofgoods and/or services might wish to control the expectations of patronswho plan to wait or are waiting on various queue lines or are gatheringin other forms of waiting areas or on wait lists, where the providermight wish to coordinate provisioning of goods/services accordinglybased on expected wait times for such patrons.

FIG. 2 is a multi-axes graph used for explaining how location awaremanagement of assigning patrons for queuing up onto various queues(and/or wait lists) can help alleviate problems encountered withpre-ordering of goods and/or services or making appointments orreservations for provisioning of goods/services.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system for determining a location of a mobile userusing a personal mobile device carried by the user.

FIG. 4A depicts a first Graphical User Interface (GUI) state of apersonal mobile device of a prospective recipient who is planning toreceive online-ordered goods/services in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4B depicts a second GUI state for a recipient's personal mobiledevice in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4C depicts a third GUI state for a recipient's personal mobiledevice in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4D depicts a fourth GUI state for a recipient's personal mobiledevice in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 5A illustrates a first waitlist for transactions that the providerhas committed to and a second list of proposed transactions that theprovider has not yet committed to.

FIG. 5B illustrates a third waitlist for tracking progress of orders inpreparation and production states and a fourth list for trackingcapacity at planned provisioning spots for respective ones ofcommitted-to goods and/or services.

FIG. 6A is a flow chart of a tracking method that includes fineresolution tracking.

FIG. 6B is a flow chart of a method for determining whether to commit toprovisioning of requested goods/services and if committed to, assuringthat the provisioning will substantially coincide with arrival of therespective recipient.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosure relates to technology using resources of wirelessnetworks and personal mobile communicators to track progress ofexpecting recipients of goods and/or services and to make predictionsabout arrival times (and optionally to control arrival times) as therecipients make their way to a goods/services provisioning spot and ascorresponding goods/services (or service providers) also advance to thegoods/services provisioning spot for timely intersection with recipientsat respectively scheduled appointment or reservation times or timewindows. In one embodiment, a mobile wireless device normally orroutinely carried by the recipient (e.g., the recipient's smartphone,smart watch or other such routinely carried or worn mobile device) isused to keep track of the location of the recipient. More specifically,the disclosure relates to a technology using wireless transmitters,wireless receivers and correlating databases to determine locations of,advancement speeds of, and/or distances away (chronologically and/orspatially) of expected recipients from goods/services provisioning spotsin both coarse and finer resolutions as the recipients make their way tosuch goods/services provisioning spots in accordance with pre-planned orimplied provisioning time windows. The disclosure also relates todetermining progress of corresponding goods/services (or serviceproviders) that are to also advance to the goods/services provisioningspot for delivery at respective appointment/reservation times or incorresponding time windows. The disclosure relates to management ofqueuing resources (whether physical and/or in the form of wait-lists)for accommodating traffic flows of expected recipients ofgoods/-services as the recipients make their way to and throughrespective goods/services provisioning spots (e.g., drive-throughwindows, pick-up areas, counter lines and waited-on seating areas) andas the requested goods and/or services and/or service providers alsoadvance towards the scheduled provisioning spots for timely intersectionwith arrival of their respective recipients.

For sake of brevity, “goods/services” will be used herein to refer tothe provisioning of any one or more of goods, services and serviceproviders as appropriate for a given context. More specifically and asan example, when a customer makes an appointment with a specificcosmetologist at a beauty salon, the appointment making typicallyincludes an assumption that a chair and/or other service station will beavailable, that the required hair coloring or other cosmetologicalproducts will be available and that the service providing cosmetologistwill also be there and ready to provide the requested goods and/orservices starting at the appointed time or in a promised or implied timewindow. Confirmation of the appointment by both of the involved partiesgenerally constitutes a commitment and a sealing of the deal for thetimely provision of the goods/services at a specified location.

While one example given here relates to the fast food pre-orderingindustry and another to making an appointment with a cosmetologist, thepresent teachings are not to be limited to just these few examples.There are many aspects of day to day living where appointment-makers,order-placers and/or prospective recipients of goods/services expect tohave the goods/services timely provided at a scheduled time or in ascheduled or implied time span based on online ordering or onlinereservation/appointment making even if it involves some acceptableamount of variable delay and waiting. The respectiverecipients/appointment-makers may experience dissatisfaction anddisappointment if: (a) their expectations are not well managed, (b) ifqueues for different kinds of patrons (e.g., drive-through ones, sitdown waited-upon ones) are not well managed and wait times aresubstantially longer than planned for, (c) if goods/servicesprovisioning resources are not well managed to coincide withexpectations and arrival times of recipients and (d) if the requestedgoods/services are not provided in timely, high quality manner or not atall. Further examples where similar kinds of issues typically ariseinclude slow-food restaurants where customers make online reservations,drive long distances only to show up and then find that there are notables to accommodate them and/or not enough waiters to accommodatethem, no seats in the waiting area, no spaces in the parking lot, notenough kitchen bandwidth and so forth. Yet other examples includemedical or alike service providing venues where patients make onlineappointments, show up and then find that there are no seats in thewaiting area, no spaces in the parking lot, the health providers arebacked up and require longer than expected wait times (or have beencalled away due to an emergency) or other such problems. Entertainmentproviding venues may have similar problems where customers pre-ordertickets online, show up at the theater and find long waiting lines atthe ticket office or backed up parking lots or a host of other problemsrelated to mismatches between customer arrival times, customerexpectations and the then available services. Yet further examplesinclude item-pick up areas where patrons have made appointments to pickup online pre-ordered goods, timely show up at the agreed to pick uparea and then have to wait for unreasonably long wait times while thegoods are searched-for and found or not found at all. It is desirable toaccurately predict when specific patrons will show up at a provisioningspot for requested goods/services and/or to control when and where suchpatrons arrive so that expected or implied wait times are not exceededand the expected goods/services are provided in timely quality manner.

In accordance with the present disclosure, locations and/or rates ofapproach of recipients to respective goods/services provisioning spotsare automatically and repeatedly monitored while rates of progresstoward delivering corresponding requested goods/service to the promisedprovisioning spots and at the promised times or in the promised/impliedtime windows are monitored and coordinated to intersect with predictedand/or controlled times of arrival of the recipients. In cases where thedesired intersection cannot be assured, the expectations of therecipients are managed ahead of time, prior to arrival, to thereby avoidlast minute surprises, disappointments and unacceptably long wait times.

The locating of users of personal mobile devices is known for relativelycoarse levels of resolution. For example, cellular towers may be used todetermine presence of cellular smartphones within respective telephonecommunication cells or as the users cross from one cell to the next (andinvoke cellular handovers) or by means of proximity triangulation. Inanother example, the users' mobile devices use GPS satellite technologyto determine respective locations to a resolution of a few meters (e.g.,10's of meters) and to then broadcast this location information.However, for finer levels of resolution based on short range broadcasts,supporting technologies are limited. Also, if the identity of the useris broadcast together with the location information, privacy may becompromised.

In an embodiment in accordance with the present disclosure, a user'spersonal mobile device is pre-configured to contain a backgroundperipheral service (BPS) that transmits a temporary transactionidentification sequence (TID) when the service is temporarily connectedto. The user's actual identity is not broadcast. One or more locallydisposed scanners at a vendor's venue attempt the connection when theuser arrives at an area controlled by the venue and then the scannersdetect the invoked BPS transmission of the TID. Based on signal strengthreceived by the scanner(s) within the given venue, a likely one or morepinpointing locations of the user is/are automatically determined to adesired level of resolution (e.g., about 1 meter or less). The user'sidentification and associated request for goods and/or services aredetermined from the transmitted TID. Upon successful delivery, in oneembodiment, the BPS and its TID are deleted to thereby assure privacy.

It is understood that the present subject matter may be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as being limited to theembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this subject matter will be thorough and complete and will fullyconvey the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Indeed, the subjectmatter is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalentsof these embodiments, which are included within the scope and spirit ofthe present teachings. Furthermore, in the following detaileddescription of the present subject matter, numerous specific details areset forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the presentsubject matter. However, it will be clear to those of ordinary skill inthe art that the present subject matter may be practiced without suchspecific details.

FIG. 1 illustrates an environment (e.g., a fast food retail venue) 100which can support a number of different online pre-ordering schemes inaccordance with the present disclosure. The schematic illustrationdepicts the venue 100 as having venue-controlled or venue-monitorableareas such as a vehicle drive-through interface area 110, a pedestrianinterface area 120, a product processing area 130, a vehicle parkingarea 140 and other customer-traversed areas 150 (e.g., a storefrontsidewalk area, a building lobby, an elevator waiting area, an elevatorcar, a staircase, an escalator, a hallway leading to the venue and soon).

These are merely nonlimiting examples of goods/services providing spotsthat may be found in a patrons-servicing establishment. Morespecifically, the illustrated establishment 100 may include an interiorsitting area 122 (e.g., a waiting area with tables and/or chairs) wherepatrons 123 who have pre-ordered online using worn (or carried)location-revealing mobile devices 125 may wait for the requested itemsto be delivered to them by a service provider (e.g., waiter) or to benotified that the requested items are available at a pick-up window. Theestablishment may include interior queue lines 121 where other patrons124 who have pre-ordered online (and who optionally carry or wearlocation-revealing mobile devices 125′) can line up for more immediateservice at a service counter where; when they reach the counter, theyexpect to immediately receive their preordered items (e.g., fresh hotfood items, cold drinks). The establishment may include one or moredrive-through servicing windows 112 (optionally of different kinds) towhich driving-through vehicles 114 approach in order to immediatelyreceive delivery of their online pre-ordered (and optionally pre-paidfor) items. The driving-through vehicles 114 and/or their drivers maypossess location-revealing mobile devices such as smart phones 115,smart watches and so on used for placing the orders (optionallypre-paying for the goods/services) and for tracking the locations of thelocation-revealing mobile devices.

In one embodiment, the establishment 100 includes or has access to fineresolution location determining scanners (e.g., Bluetooth™ scanners,Fifth generation (5G) WiFi scanners) 127 which cooperatively interactwith software installed in the location-revealing mobile devices 125,125′, 115 of the various patrons 123, 124, 114 for determining theirrespective locations in areas (e.g., 110, 120, 140, 150) for which theestablishment has tracking rights or permissions where the tracking canbe carried out to respective levels of course and finer resolutions(e.g., the finer being to within about a meter or less). Although notshown in FIG. 1 , it is to be understood that the fine resolutionlocation determining scanners 127 are operatively coupled (e.g.,wirelessly) to a computer network for relaying location determinationsmade by them for processing by one or more data processors available onthe network. The scanners 127 can keep track to appropriate levels ofresolution (e.g., to within 2 feet) of where pedestrians are in thepedestrian interface area 120 and where vehicles are in vehicleaccommodating areas such as drive-through lane 110 and parking area 140.Although shown in FIG. 1 only by means of schematic dots, it is also tobe understood that the fine resolution location determining scanners127′, 127″ or equivalents are also provided in the parking area 140 andin other patron-traversed areas (e.g., surrounding sidewalks). It is tobe understood that Although Bluetooth™ and 5G directed beam WiFitransceivers are mentioned as examples of fine resolution locationdetermining scanners, the present disclosure is not limited to justthese examples. Rather, numerous alternative wireless devices can beused for providing fine resolution location determination (e.g., to aresolution of one meter or less, preferably 2 feet or less) includingoptical (e.g., IR) and magnetic detectors.

The interior of the goods/services provisioning area 130 (e.g., kitchen)is not shown but may be understood to include various preparation andproduction stations including those for storing utensils, for assemblingutensils (e.g., pots, pans) to be used for a specific order, forcollecting raw or finished materials, for processing them (e.g., cookingmeats, carbonating, mixing and/or cooling drinks, toasting bread slices,etc.) and packaging them (e.g., on trays or into bags) so that they canbe conveniently provided to respective ones of the recipients (e.g.,123, 124, 114) at the appointed times and places. The interior of thegoods/services production area 130 may alternatively or additionallyinclude service providers (e.g., cooks, waiters, dishwashers, tablebussers) who are charged with performing various work assignments. Theseproduction workers may also need to be available and in ready conditionso that timely and high quality provisioning of requested goods/servicescan occur. In general, it takes time for preparation and productionactivities in the goods/services provisioning area 130 (or out on thefloor) to complete and this preparation and/or production time should beaccounted for when confirming (committing to) orders or other onlinerequests made by patrons of the establishment and when assuring that thepromised goods/services are delivered as promised.

In one embodiment, the parking area 140 may include parking spaces 141a-141 n (n being an indicator of number of parking spots) that can bereserved online. Various kinds of sensors including Bluetooth™ onesand/or magnetic proximity ones (127′) may be used to sense whether ornot a vehicle is positioned in respective ones of the reserveable orpublic spots 141 a-141 n and who is sitting in (or on) the vehicle(e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bus). The present teachings contemplate apatron (e.g., 123, 124) of an establishment (e.g., 100) making on onlinereservation for a reserveable parking spot (e.g., 141 a-141 n,optionally spots of different sizes), getting confirmation that therequested spot is reserved in a particular first time window for thepatron and also pre-ordering goods/services and getting confirmationthat the requested goods/services will be provided to the patron in thesame first time window or in a second time window that starts after thestart of the first time window. Thus the patron can receive assurancesthat both a parking spot and the requested goods/services will be timelyprovided.

Although FIG. 1 implies that customer populations and traffic flows inthe exemplary establishment 100 are being well managed such thatinterior queue lines (e.g., 121) are neither too long or too short, suchthat exterior queue lines (e.g., drive-through lane 110) are neither toolong or too short, such that goods/services preparation and productionarea (e.g., kitchen 130) is neither overwhelmed with too many orders norunderwhelmed with too few, and such that food items are provided inprime condition (e.g., hot and fresh) such outcomes do not come aboutinherently. If the establishment 100 accepts (commits to) too manyonline orders at once, the waiting areas may quickly fill with crowdedtogether and upset customers. If the establishment 100 accepts (commitsto) online orders made by prospective recipients who are far away(distance-wise or timewise) but prepares the food items too soon, theitems will be cold and stale by the time the recipients arrive. If theestablishment 100 accepts (commits to) online orders made by prospectiverecipients who are very close (distance-wise or timewise) and then triesto rush the food preparation to coincide with too-early arrival times bythose nearby recipients when the kitchen is trying to fulfill the ordersof customers who are already waiting, food quality may suffer andcustomer good will may be lost. On the other hand, if commitments toprovide are made based on automatically repeated monitoring of recipientlocations and based on automatically repeated monitoring of capabilitiesto prepare and produce requested goods/services in timely and highquality fashion, many of these problems can be avoided or at leastminimized. It is to be understood by the way that the establishment 100(e.g., fast food venue) is not limited to fulfilling only online maderequests for goods/services. Commitments (verbal or otherwise) may bemade to other kinds of patrons including walk-ins. Some of thetechnology disclosed herein may be used to detect the presence ofpatrons other than those who make online requests for goods/services.The capacity of various physical wait areas and virtual wait-lists totimely accommodate online requests for goods/services may take intoaccount detection of the other kinds of patrons and/or may take intoaccount statistically-based predictions (e.g., made by an expertknowledge base) about how many of the other kinds of patrons are to beexpected and when. In one embodiment, if the specific establishment(e.g., 100) decides not to commit to the online request for thegoods/services, its software (e.g., downloaded mobile app 317) mayautomatically suggest alternate establishments to whom the request canbe redirected, for example another branch of the same brand.

FIG. 2 is a combination multi-axis graph and schematic 200 that isuseful in explaining aspects of the present disclosure with respect tomonitoring locations and approach speeds of prospective recipients whohave made or are making online requests for goods/services. Thegraph/schematic 200 is referred to for explaining how decisions may bemade with respect to deciding whether to commit and/or when to commit toa provisioning of online requested goods/services. The graph/schematic200 is referred to for explaining how decisions may be made with respectto deciding when to begin and continue with preparations and/orproduction of the requested goods/services so that completionsubstantially coincides with predicted arrival times of respectiverecipients so that the recipients do not have to wait around (e.g., millaround) too long and so that the goods/services are provided in prime ornear prime quality. First axis 201 represents locations within a 2D or3D frame (e.g., corresponding to frame 105 of FIG. 1 ). Second axis 202represents chronological points along a timeline. Third axis 203represents levels of location resolution that may be utilized based onat least one of determined location and current time. The third axis 203is drawn parallel to the second axis 202 to indicate that in oneembodiment, resolution of location determination becomes finer and fineras the recipient gets closer to a pre-specified provisioning spot (e.g.,262 f and/or 262 g).

Icon 261 is placed in the bottom left corner of the graph 200 torepresent a first computer device used at an initial time and at aninitial location to place an order and/or to make a reservation (or tomake or request an appointment) with respect to a pre-identifiedestablishment (e.g., 100 of FIG. 1 ). The first computer device 261 mayalso identify itself, the order-placer and/or an alternate recipient whowill receive the goods/services. Icon 271, which is placed at the topleft of the graph 200 represents a second computer device that receivesthe placed request for making an order/reservation. Dash-dot line 281 arepresents a first communication from the location of the order-placingfirst device 261 to the location of the order/reservation requestreceiving second device 271. Information included in the firstcommunication 281 a may include details about: (1) the requestedgoods/services; (2) the requested time and/or place where thegoods/services are requested to be provided; (3) an identification ofthe recipient (e.g., user Um) of the requested goods/services; and (4)an identification of a location-revealing mobile device 262 (e.g., athird computer device) that is to be carried or worn by the identifiedrecipient Um while traveling to a provisioning area (e.g., 262 f or 262g) where the requested goods/services are to be provided. In oneembodiment, first and third devices 261 and 262 are one and the same. Inan alternate embodiment, where the mobile device 262 is different, asecond communication 281 b is transmitted from receiver 271 to themobile device 262 to provide details of the placed order/reservation(281 a) and to further provide: (5) a unique transaction identificationsequence (TID) to be used while managing the provisioning of therequested goods/services and (6) an approximate time or time window inwhich the identified recipient should expect to receive the requestedgoods/services at a specified provisioning spot.

The chronological spacing RDelay-1 in the graph 200 between representeddevices 261 and 262 indicates a first delay between the time the requestfor order/reservation acceptance is placed and when a corresponding TID(281 b) is received by recipient's device 262. Although the recipient'sdevice 262 is shown to be located in approximately the same location 262a as that of the order/reservation placing device 261, the former device(262) can be located somewhere else. In response to receiving the TID(281 b), the recipient's location-revealing device 262 allows thereceiving end 271 to discover the current location 262 a of therecipient's device 262 by way of third communication 282. The discoveryof the current location 262 a of the recipient's device 262 may becarried out in accordance with several different methods, includingusing cellular telephony information, using global positioning satellite(GPS) information and using information obtained by stationary WiFirouters. Referring briefly to FIG. 3 , items 253 a′ represent the use ofcellular telephony information to locate device 262 based on the currentcell base station (e.g., tower) in whose domain device 262 is currentlypositioned and/or based on occurrence of handover from one base stationto another as the device 262 crosses the boundary between adjacentcells. Item 253 b′ represents the receipt of GPS signals from an in-viewconstellation of global positioning satellites for determining thecurrent location of device 262. Item 129 b represents a stationary WiFihot spot to which the mobile device 362 can temporarily connect when inrange of the WiFi hot spot 129 b (or one of its directed beams if thelatter is a 5G one). The cellular telephony method (253 a′) tends to berelatively course and typically resolves location to no better than tensor hundreds of meters. The GPS locating method (253 b′) tends to befiner but typically cannot resolve location to a resolution of betterthan a few meters. Short range near field (e.g., having effectivenessover just a handful of meters) or longer range transmitters andreceivers (e.g., Bluetooth™ transceivers, directed bean 5G WiFitransceivers 129 a) may be used to resolve device location to an evenfiner resolution (253 c in FIG. 2 ) of about one meter or less. Scanners127 of FIG. 1 are an example of such transceivers and will be discussedin greater detail below. Preferably, communication 282 not only informsthe receiving end 271 of the location of device 262 but also of itsspeed and yet more preferably also of its direction. When provided withinformation for determining the velocity of device 262, the receivingend 271 can determine if the recipient is already moving toward theinitially planned provisioning area 262 f or 262 g or not and can makecorresponding predictions about expected time of arrival (ETA). WhileFIG. 2 depicts the identified recipient (e.g., user Um at location 262g) as approaching by car, it is within the contemplation of the presentdisclosure that the recipient may alternatively or additionally approachthe planned delivery spot (e.g., 262 f or 262 g) by walking, riding abicycle, by using an elevator, an escalator or other such means and thatfine resolution tracking of the identified recipient may entail trackinghim/her in approach areas other than just those conventionally used byautomobiles.

Still referring to FIG. 2 , in response to the first location revealingcommunication 282, the receiving end 271 makes a coarse first prediction291 (Predict-1) about how long it will take the identified recipient(Um) to arrive at the planned provisioning spot (262 f or 262 g) basedon the first location indicated by, and optionally on the velocityindicated by, the first communication 282. This first prediction 291 canbe based on the calculated distance between the first indicated location262 a and the planned provisioning spot and on average traveling timesby average recipients in navigating from the first indicated location262 a to the planned provisioning spot (262 f or 262 g) as optionallyaugmented by a given current velocity of the recipient's device 262. Inone embodiment, arrival predictions like 291 may be further based oncurrently or generally known traffic conditions as automaticallyacquired from the internet or elsewhere. The coarse first prediction 291(Predict-1) can be used to decide if a commitment to providing therequested goods/services should be made; and if yes, relaying back tothe recipient's device 262 a first proposed appointment time or timewindow within which to expect delivery of the requested goods and/orservices. In one embodiment, the first proposed appointment time or timewindow is not relayed to the prospective recipient until a later timewhen the provider is ready to commit to such timely provisioning, forexample by way of the later timed, order confirming communication 277depicted in FIG. 2 . However, in other embodiments, approximateappointment times or time windows may be committed to and communicatedearlier than that based on predictions of expected conditions at thescheduled provisioning time.

Given the course first prediction 291, it may be decided at thereceiving end 271 to automatically introduce a first preparation andproduction delay 273 (ProDelay-1a) before submitting the requestedorder/reservation to a first goods/services provisioning station 274 (inwhich initial preparation and/or provisioning steps denoted as A, B, C,are begun). Preparation may include simply creating a real or virtualticket for the requested goods and/or services. The first productiondelay 273 may have several uses. First, it may be undesirable to beginthe initial preparation and/or provisioning steps A, B, C, . . . too farahead of the currently predicted time at which the recipient (Um) isexpected to arrive at the planned provisioning spot (262 f or 262 g).More specifically and as an example, requested cooked foods may becomecold and/or stale and cold drinks may become too warm or diluted bymelting ice if prepared too far in advance. Second, the inserted firstpreparation/production delay 273 (ProDelay-1a) allows the recipient toupload a cancellation of the online-made order/reservation (281 a) ifthere is a change of mind based on intervening circumstances or for noreason at all. If the cancellation is uploaded then initial preparationand/or provisioning steps A, B, C, . . . are not carried out and theestablishment 100 saves on unnecessary expenditure of resources. It isto be understood that, because the recipient or the placer (261) of theorder/reservation can freely cancel during the initial phase, there isnot yet a firm commitment to the order/reservation by either the requestplacing party (261) or the receiving party/entity (271). In oneembodiment, a graphical user interface (GUI) of the order-placingsoftware (inside device 261) indicates that there is not yet acommitment at this time.

FIG. 4A depicts a first state 410 of an example graphical user interface(GUI) in accordance with the present disclosure where the status 414 ofa requested reservation or appointment (418) for provisioning ofrequested goods/services is “Not Yet Confirmed”. In the given example,field 411 indicates the identity of the establishment (here a fictitiousname, ‘Big Burger’), field 412 indicates an associate order number(e.g., X34), field 418 indicates the amount of time left until thecurrently planned but provisional appointment (e.g., 18 minutes and zeroseconds) and field 419 provides additional instructions to the recipientabout the contemplated reservation or appointment. In the illustratedexample, the recipient is instructed to not enter a drive-through lanefor prepaid orders until the appointment countdown in field 418 reacheszero minutes. Other forms of instruction are contemplated and mayinclude additional voiced instructions (e.g., provided through therecipient's device 262).

FIG. 4B depicts a later second state 420 of the GUI where the status 424of the planned reservation or appointment (428) is now changed from theearlier provisional status 214 to the “CONFIRMED” state and anadditional block 426 is inserted to indicate that the order has beenpre-paid for. In one embodiment, block 426 also includes an opticallyscannable barcode that validates the confirmed and prepaid status of theorder (the one identified in field 422). In one embodiment, theconfirmed status may also be indicated in a wireless message that therecipient's device 262 may be induced to provide (via a pre-loadedbackground peripheral service or BPS) when wirelessly interrogated.Field 428 now indicates that there is approximately three minutes leftin a running countdown for the appointment. In this example field 429 ischanged to instruct the user to pull up into an identified drive throughlane (e.g., DriveWay #2) when the countdown clock reaches zero. It iswithin the contemplation of the present disclosure that rather thanshowing similar instructions as those in field 419 of FIG. 4A, theinstructions could have been changed to redirect the recipient elsewheredue to changed circumstances. For example they may say, “Please pullinto reserved parking space 141 x (e.g., a specific space among spaces141 a-141 n of FIG. 1 ) and wait until the appointment countdown reaches0 before entering the pre-paid quick drive-through lane.”

Still referring to FIG. 2 , in one embodiment the interjectedprovisioning delay 273 is a variable one that depends on whether or notthe identified recipient has begun traveling towards the plannedgoods/services provisioning spot (262 f,g). If not, the interjectedprovisioning delay may be extended as indicated by additional portion273′ (ProDelay-1b). In one embodiment, during the initialpreparation/production delays 273, 273′ (ProDelay-1a, 1b), theorder/reservation receiving entity (271) may send one or more requestsfor acquiring the current location 262 b (and optionally speed anddirection) of the recipient's device 262 to determine whether or not therecipient has started traveling towards the planned destination (262f,g) and if so, how much progress has been made and can be expected tobe made in the near future. Responses to these additional one or morerequests is represented by upload communication 283. In response, thereceiving end makes a more accurate and second prediction 292(Predict-2) about when to expect arrival of the identified recipient(Um) at the planned destination (262 f,g).

The more accurate second prediction 292 may affect the length of thecombined initial production delays 273, 273′ (ProDelay-1a, 1b) by eithershortening or lengthening them as appropriate. Block 274 represents theinitiation of the preparation/provisioning of the requestedgoods/services. The specifics of such initial preparation/provisioning274 will vary from establishment to establishment as based on differentcontexts. For example, in a fast food providing environment (e.g., 100of FIG. 1 ) a first step in preparing to fulfill an order may comprisegenerating a physical order ticket, gathering certain utensils (e.g.,pots, pans, trays) and raw ingredients used for cooking or otherwiseprocessing the food items that are to ultimately be provided inaccordance with the order. Yet more specifically, a number of frozenmeat patties may be dispensed onto a preparation tray depending onwhether the order asks for a single, double or triple burger stack; anumber of different fresh vegetable items may be gathered (e.g., onions,lettuce, pickles, condiments) depending on whether or not the order asksfor them. The top and bottom bun sections may be stacked adjacent tothese raw materials. An empty drink cup of appropriate size may bedispensed. However, none of the gathered items are irreversibly alteredby for example cooking, toasting and/or stacking them together at thisphase. If the order is canceled, the utensils and/or raw materials maybe returned to their originating bins as may be allowed by food safetyrules.

Uplink communications 284 and 285 represent yet further indications ofthe recipient's state (represented as being inside a moving vehicle) asthat person advances from location 262 b to a closer location 262 c andbeyond. The indicated progress of the recipient may result in yetfurther predictions about arrival time (ETA) and may serve asjustification for progressively advancing the initial preparation ofutensils and/or raw materials to a next station or step among initialprovisioning steps A, B, C, . . . (represented by block 274). Forexample, in the fast food context some of the less expensive raw itemsmay now be mixed together but the more expensive frozen meat items arenot yet placed on the grill. Also the timing for placing the frozen meatitems on the grill may depend on whether the order requested the meat tobe cooked as well done, medium or rare.

In the illustrated example, recipient position 262 d represents apossible stall in the previous progress (262 b, 262 c) made towardsarriving at the planned destination (262 f,g) in accordance with acurrently proposed appointment time (ETA). The reasons for the stall 262d may be many. Perhaps the recipient has run into unexpected trafficcongestion. Perhaps the recipient has decided to make a midstream chorestop, for example at another store to buy gasoline or to pick up an itemneeded at home (e.g., milk). Alternatively, the goods/services providingestablishment (271, 274, e.g., 100) has sent a request (286) to therecipient to stop his/her advancement and/or a request (290 a) to thinkabout making a chore stop (290 b) at another establishment (may be evenautomatically suggesting a nearby one) because production at thegoods/services providing establishment is currently backed up (e.g., dueto unexpected surge in demand or unexpected loss of some productionequipment) and thus the appointment time has to be changed to a latertime. After the side chore 290 b is done, the system my suggest incommunication 290 c that the recipient proceed to location 262 c andawait further instructions. Concomitant with this change of plans, a newprediction 295 (Predict-5) is generated based on the latest uplinkcommunications 286 (which are shown to be bidirectional if theestablishment down links a new appointment time—i.e. 448 of FIG.4D—and/or other instructions—i.e. 449—).

When it becomes relatively certain (e.g., a probability of better than66%) that the goods/services providing establishment can timely fulfillthe reservation and/or order for the requested goods/services, theprovisioning entity down links a confirmation communication 277 to therecipient's mobile device (262) and instructs the recipient to advanceto the planned provisioning spot (262 f,g) accordingly. Alternatively,based on circumstances, the provisioning entity may elect to usetransmission 277 to further delay the appointment time or time window orto even, if conditions necessitate it, cancel the order from their endor propose alternative substitutes (e.g., because certain items have runout of stock). From the recipient's perspective, it is better to getearly warning of changed circumstances rather than to waste timeadvancing to the planned provisioning spot (262 f,g) and then learn ofthe changed circumstances at the last minute. Bidirectionalcommunications 287 at the further advanced location 262 e represent aquickening rate of back and forth communication between the recipientand the provisioning establishment as the recipient comes closer andcloser to the planned provisioning spot (262 f,g). In one embodiment,this quickening rate of back and forth communication includes theactivating of fine resolution locaters for more precisely determining ofthe location of the recipient (Um) and/or a vehicle carrying therecipient. For example the activated fine resolution locaters mayinclude Bluetooth™ and/or 5G WiFi transponders provided in the parkinglot 140 and along the drive-through lane 110.

Concomitant with a confirmation (277) of the planned provisioning ofgoods/services, the provisioning establishment continues in block 278with further and finalizing preparation and provisioning steps followinginitial steps A, B, C, . . . in block 274. These finalizing provisioningsteps may be denoted as, . . . X, Y, Z (not to be confused with aspatial frame of reference such as 105) and may take place at a locationdifferent from that of initial steps A, B, C, . . . . For the fast foodcontext, the finalizing provisioning steps may include finishing off thecooking of the hot foods and cooling of the cold items so that they canbe provided hot and fresh or appropriately cold at the appointed timeand place. The finalizing provisioning steps may also include thepackaging of the various food items so they can be quickly handed to therecipient (e.g., at quick drive through window 112 of FIG. 1 ). Thedepicted provisioning spots (262 f,g) may represent a number ofdifferent options. As was indicated in FIG. 1 , a recipient may ask to(or be instructed to) drive a vehicle into a fast pre-paid drive-throughlane or through a slightly slower drive-through lane which has a paymentwindow or alternatively the recipient may ask to (or be instructed to)park his/her vehicle in a reserved spot in the parking lot 140 and thenwalk into the pedestrian interface section 120 and wait in a queuingarea, 121 or 122, for receipt or pick up of the requestedgoods/services. Alternatively, the establishment may feature a sidewalkpickup window to which the recipient is directed. The depictedprovisioning spot 262 f represents the case where provisioning isprovided to the vehicle. The depicted provisioning spot 262 g representsthe case where provisioning is provided to the recipient in a pedestrianinterface section such as 120. In some embodiments, the recipient isinstructed (see field 439 of FIG. 4C) to proceed according to a slightlydifferent course of action than originally planned.

More specifically, in the example of FIG. 4C, a revised GUI state 430 ispresented on the recipient's mobile device 262 where the recipient isinstructed to not pull up into a drive-through lane but to instead parkin a known-to-be-empty spot (e.g., number 141 b per instruction 439)where the requested goods and/or services will be delivered there in ashort time (e.g., within 3 minutes) by a waiter. In other words, therecipient is being informed ahead of time of a specific manner in whichthe requested goods and/or services will be provided. New field 435warns of the changed circumstances. In one embodiment, the newinstructions may also be voiced through the recipient's mobile device262 or by way of another audio device. In one embodiment, the changenotification may indicate that initially ordered items have run out ofstock and ask the recipient if he/she is willing to accept proposedalternatives or if he/she wishes to cancel that part or the whole of theorder.

After the requested goods and/or services (and/or acceptablealternatives) are delivered, in one embodiment, the fine resolutionscanners (e.g., 127) determine that the serviced recipient has moved on(e.g., to location 262 h) thus clearing space in the correspondingprovisioning spots 262 f and/or 262 g for a next in-line patron ornext-on-wait-list patron. In one embodiment, one or more wait-lists (notshown, see FIGS. 5A-5B) stored in a database, are updated to indicatethat the identified recipient has been serviced, that the requestedgoods and/or services have been provided and to advance other waitingpatrons and/or orders forward on the respective wait-lists andoptionally to re-sort the wait-lists based on expected arrival times ofdifferent other patrons and/or determined priorities of theirorders/reservations and abilities to deliver on time and/or at thescheduled places. Communication 288 may be sent to a next in line ornext-on-wait-list patron (e.g., one at location 262 e) to advance into anow-available provisioning spot 262 f or 262 g. Alternatively oradditionally, communication 289 may be sent to a further away and/orfurther back on the wait-list patron (e.g., one at location 262 d)informing that patron of his/her progress in moving forward along thewait-list. (see FIG. 4D and FIG. 5A).

Referring to FIG. 4D, in one embodiment, patrons whose respectiveorders/reservations/appointments are queued on a changing wait-list areautomatically and repeatedly informed of changes on the list so thatthey may tailor their actions accordingly. The illustrated GUI 440includes a notification 444 that there has been a change to thewait-list. Notification 445 may instruct the patron to refer to moredetailed instructions provided elsewhere. In this example, notification446 informs the patron that his/her charge card (or other financialaccount) has not yet been charged. Notification 448 informs the patronthat the wait time has been increased (e.g., relative to 418 of FIG.4A). Notification 449 allows the patron to link to a next page thatprovides more details including suggested options for the patron in viewof the changed appointment time/place and/or delayed/changed/cancelledorder.

Referring to FIG. 5A, in one embodiment, automatically repeatedlyupdated wait-list tables (e.g., 500, 505, but there could be more) arestored in a database controlled by the establishment. As illustrated (innonlimiting fashion), requested goods and/or services are respectivelyidentified by unique TIDs (second column of database table 505). In oneembodiment, a subset of the TID sequence (e.g., “x34” in the second row)is used to represent the order ID to the customer while the rest isknown only to the establishment. The current position of eachTID-identified transaction in the wait-list may be indicated by await-list position identifier (first column). The wait-list position mayor may not represent the currently planned order of provisioning of therequested goods and/or services. The wait-list table (e.g., 500) may bededicated to provisioning at one specific provisioning spot (e.g., atthe pre-paid drive through window) or a number of such spots and/or tothe provisioning of a specified class or subclass of goods/services. Inthe latter case, additional columns (not shown) in the wait-list table505 may identify the planned provisioning spot and/or a subclass in thespecified class of goods/services.

In the illustrated example of the first wait-list table 500, the thirdcolumn indicates the currently known location of the identifiedrecipient (identified by the corresponding TID and by a cross associatedother database table (not shown) linked to the same TID). The fourthcolumn indicates the currently known velocity of the identifiedrecipient. Positive velocities may indicate progress towards the plannedprovisioning spot 262 f or 262 g while negative ones may indicatemovement away. The fifth column indicates a currently computed distanceaway. The computed distance away is also referred to herein as“separation” and may come in a variety of forms depending on needs ofthe provider. The separation can be expressed in terms of one or more ofa radial, as-the-crow-flies distance or may be an effective distancebased on expected roads/paths to be travelled and optionally oncurrently known speed limits and/or other traffic conditions on thoseroads/paths. Separation may be expressed in terms of chronologicaldistance rather than or as well as in terms of spatial distance. In oneembodiment, when effective distance (e.g., D1) increases due to newlydetected traffic conditions (or other impediments), the progressrelating GUI (e.g., FIG. 4D) may notify the recipient of a changedappointment time and/or provisioning spot due to newly detected trafficconditions. In one embodiment, rather than just determining actualdistance (e.g., radial, as-the-crow-flies distance) and/or effectivedistance (based on path lengths and optionally on traffic conditions),the system may alternatively or additionally determine and storeeffective chronological distance (separation time apart) of therespective recipient based on lengths of predicted paths to be taken andoptionally on current or estimated traffic conditions. In oneembodiment, a progress advisement program that advises the recipient forexample with the GUI's of FIGS. 4A-4D may additionally provide therecipient with alternate navigation suggestions. The alternatenavigation suggestions may help the recipient get to the establishmentsooner, or optionally later, depending the status of the orderpreparation and/or production.

The sixth column in the first wait-list table 500 may indicate acurrently assigned priority value for the respective goods/services. Theassigned priority value may change due to changed circumstances. In oneembodiment, the row entries in the table 500 and currently plannedappointment times (seventh column, which in one embodiment presents acount down value in hours/minutes/seconds format) may be automaticallyrepeatedly re-sorted and updated based on changing priority assignments.In the illustrated example, the eighth column indicates degree of ordercompletion. There may be more columns with other forms of relevantinformation or a fewer number of columns.

While the first wait-list table 500 represents provisioning ofgoods/services to specific customers that the provider has committed to(has confirmed their orders/requests), the second wait-list table 505represents online requests for goods and/or services that the providerhas not yet committed to (has not confirmed). Thus at least the plannedappointment times (seventh column) are indicated as currently undefined.Row items from the second wait-list table 505 may be moved up to thefirst wait-list table 500 as room and/or servicing bandwidth becomesavailable. The move to the first wait-list table 500 may be based onorder in the second wait-list table 505 or on other factors such asseparation (e.g., distance away) and currently assigned and competingpriorities.

FIG. 5B depicts other possible wait-lists (507 and 509) that may bestored in the establishment's database and used for managing orderpreparation/processing and customer advancement along various physicaland/or virtual queue lines. Third database table 507 tracks the progressof respective, committed-to orders/appointments. As seen the thirdcolumn identifies the current location of the requested goods and/orservice-provisioning resources. In the illustrated example, there arevarious production stations where the physical states of the items aretransformed and various preparation stations where needed materials(and/or service providers) are gathered and/or arranged in preparationfor subsequent production steps. There can also be pre-preparationstations where almost nothing significant is done except that an orderticket is advanced physically and/or virtually. The seventh column(and/or yet further columns) of the third database table 507 may provideadditional details relating to the progress of the respective order.

The fourth database table 509 may track capacity availabilities atrespective goods/services provisioning spots under control of theestablishment. If one provisioning spot exceeds a corresponding andpredetermined threshold for how full it is allowed to become, the ordermay be changed so as to have a different planned provisioning spot. Thelisted examples of possible provisioning spots is nonlimiting. Inaddition to interior seating, the establishment may have sidewalkseating, sidewalk pickup windows or counters or even delivery to carsparked along adjacent public streets (where the establishment's fineresolution scanners can locate the corresponding patrons as beinglocated in those spots).

Referring to FIG. 3 , illustrated is a system 300 configured forlocation sensitive queues and wait-lists management where the system 300includes portions for automatically determining both coarser andpinpointed respective locations (e.g., LocU1, . . . , LocUm) ofrespective mobile users (e.g., U1, U2, . . . , Um) using theirrespective personal mobile devices (e.g., 315, . . . , 31 m) carriedand/or worn by the users as the users traverse various areas includingthose serviced by cellular telephony base stations (e.g., cell towers253 a′—see also 253 a of FIG. 2 ), serviced by GPS satelliteconstellations 253 b′ (see also 253 b of FIG. 2 ) and serviced by finerresolution, location determining means (e.g., scanners 327—see also 127,127′, 127″ of FIG. 1 ). Although the present disclosure focuses mostlyon Bluetooth™ based scanners, it is within the contemplation of thedisclosure to use other types of scanners such as WiFi ones (e.g.,generation 5G ones that provide aimed beams). When a user enters arepeatedly scanned finer resolution area (e.g., 327 corresponding to127, 127′ and 127″ of FIG. 1 ) that is covered by corresponding scanners127 a, 127 b, . . . , 127 n (n indicating the number of scanners in area327) the users' respective locations can be determined to a finer degreeof resolution than that possible with just GPS and/or cellular telephonyresources.

As indicated in magnified details area 315′, the exemplary respectivemobile device 315 of exemplary user U1 typically has a predeterminedoperating system (OS) 313 currently executing within it. Device 315 mayhave a set of application program-to-OS interfaces (APIs) 314 a forallowing various further programs 317 within the device 315 to accessresources of the OS 313. In one embodiment, the OS allows for OSmediated control over local telephony resources 314 b, WiFi interfaceresources 314 c (e.g., including generation G4 resources), Bluetooth™resources 314 d, and GPS resources 314 e. One of the API accessibleresources of the OS is that for establishing one or more backgroundperipheral services (BPSs) 318 that may be dynamically and wirelesslyconnected to from external devices (e.g., scanners 127 a-127 n). Theexecuting OS 313 may on its own periodically test for presence of nearbyBluetooth™ and/or WiFi devices (e.g., scanners 127 a-127 n, 5G WiFirouters 129 a, 129 b and alike other such short range transceivers) andin response to detected presence, occasionally wirelessly broadcast itsown Bluetooth™ and/or WiFi beacon or advertising signal which includes acurrent hardware accessing code (HAC) of the mobile device 315. In oneembodiment, the Bluetooth™ advertising signal has a unique andconsistent signature portion that can be used for locating the HAC codeas being positioned at a predetermined bit position of fixed bitdistance away from a unique signature portion of the beacon oradvertising signal. The HAC code may extracted based on itspredetermined bit position relative to the signature even though the HACcode itself changes on a pseudorandom basis. The schematic of FIG. 3illustrates the code for occasionally transmitting a rotating HAC asbeing disposed at section 319 of the personal mobile device. Theschematic of FIG. 3 also depicts one or more of established BPSs at area318. One of the BPSs is one which transmits a Bluetooth™ signalincluding an associated TID (temporary transaction ID sequence) whenthat BPS is connected to. Another of the BPSs is one which transmits aWiFi signal revealing the current GPS coordinates of the mobile device315 as well as identifying the mobile device (e.g., by its currentlyassigned TID). This WiFi signal can be routed out via the internet to aserver (e.g., 340 b) controlled by the establishment. Another of theBPSs is one which transmits a WiFi signal revealing the current cellulartelephony coordinates of the mobile device 315 as well as identifyingthe mobile device (e.g., by its currently assigned TID). This WiFisignal can be routed out via the internet to a server (e.g., 340 b)controlled by the establishment. The establishment controlled server(e.g., 340 b) may then determine current coarse locations of the mobiledevice based on the received GPS and/or telephony information and storethe results in corresponding database entries (e.g., 34 m.5).

Various foreground programs that may be used by the user while waitingfor provisioning of the requested goods and/or services are depicted asbeing present in area 317. APIs to the local apps in the mobile deviceare depicted as being present in area 314 f. One of the foregroundprograms that will be running in region 317 in accordance with thepresent disclosure is the vendor's ordering and order progressadvisement program. The GUI's shown in FIGS. 4A-4D are some examples ofthe order progress advisements that the program may provide to aprospective recipient. An example of an initial, program launching GUIfor the mobile device is depicted at 315 with application invoking iconssuch as 311 and 312 being present on the displayed graphical userinterface. One of the application invoking icons (e.g., 311 or 312) maycause a launching of a vendor's ordering and order progress advisementapplication. This application is stored in area 317 after beingdownloaded for example from a vendor controlled server 340 a located incloud 330 or elsewhere on the Internet 320.

FIG. 3 more broadly depicts an integrated client-server/internet/cloudsystem 300 (or more generically, an integrated multi-device system 300)within which the here disclosed technology may be implemented. System300 may be understood as being an automated machine system havingdistributed intelligent resources including a variety ofdifferently-located data processing and data communication mechanismsincluding for example, user-carried/worn mobile wireless units (e.g.,wireless smartphones 315, . . . , 31 m) configured to allow end-usersthereof (e.g., U1, U2 . . . Urn) to request from respective end-useroccupied locations (e.g., LocU1) services from differently locatedenterprise hosts (e.g., on-internet 320 and/or in-cloud servers 340 a,340 b, etc.). In one embodiment, server 340 a handles the downloading ofvendor ordering and order progress advisement apps into mobile devicesthat request them. The downloading process may include generating uniquecustomer profiles (e.g., including billing information) and customeridentifications that are to be used when the respective customers placeorders at a later time. In one embodiment server 340 b handles themanaging of placed orders. Server 340 b may include or connect to anorder management database which keeps track for each order-placing user(e.g., user Urn, where m is an integer) of: (a) the user's customerprofile 34 m.1, (b) the details of the placed order 34 m.2; (c) atemporary and unique transaction identification sequence (TID) 34 m.3assigned to the corresponding transaction; (d) a current hardwareaddress (e.g., HAC) being currently used by the customer's personalmobile device (e.g., 31 m.4); (e) a current one or more coarse andcomparatively more pinpointed locations 34 m.5 of where the recipient isdetermined to most likely be present at (e.g., in or near theestablishment or further away); (f) information about the deliverystatus 34 m.6 of the requested goods and/or services that the presenttransaction is directed to; and optionally additional information as maybe appropriate for the vendor's business model.

It is to be understood that the illustrated configuration of system 300is merely exemplary. As indicated, it comprises at least a few, but moretypically a very large number (e.g., thousands) of end-user devices 315(only a few shown in the form of wireless smartphones but understood torepresent many similarly situated mobile and/or stationary clientmachines—including the smartphone wireless client kinds, smart watches,and cable-connected desktop kinds). These end-user devices 315 arecapable of originating service requests which are ultimately forwardedto service-providing host machines (e.g., in-cloud servers like 340 b)within a cloud environment 330 or otherwise on-internet or linked-tointernet machines (e.g., 140). Results from the service-providing hostmachines are thereafter typically returned to the end-user devices (315,. . . 31 m) and displayed or otherwise communicated to the end-users(e.g., U1, U2, . . . , Um, m being an integer). For example, if thebusiness of the vendor is an online, food pre-ordering one, the end-user(U1) may have installed on his/her smartphone (315) a softwareapplication (“app” 317) that automatically requests from the ordermanaging server 340 b, a list of nearest vendor venue locations, themenu of the items that may be ordered online and estimates for when theitems will be ready for pick up at a selected one of the venues. Inresponse to the request, enterprise software and hardware modulesautomatically identify the user, pull up a user profile (e.g., 34 m.1),store the order details (34 m.2), assign a temporary and uniquetransaction identification sequence (TID) 34 m.3 to the correspondingtransaction (install it into a corresponding one or more BPSs) andinform the customer of a time range when he or she might arrive at thevenue to pick up the order as well a specific location for the pickup(e.g., a drive-through window). The assigned TID may be downloaded intothe BPSs of the ordering app at that time order placement or at a latertime before it is needed.

When the customer (e.g., Um) arrives at the designated venue and entersan area covered by the location pinpointing scanners (127 a-127 n) ofthe venue, a fine resolution locating process is automatically carriedout. Briefly, the presence of the HAC advertising mobile device isdetected; an attempt is made to dynamically connect wirelessly to theTID-returning BPS of that mobile device; the TID is detected by at leastone of the location pinpointing scanners (127 a-127 n) and therespective strengths of the TID-providing signals are measured atrespective ones of the scanners. More specifically and merely as anexample, if TID-returning signal 128 b has the same relative strength asTID-returning signal 128 n then it may be automatically determined thatthe corresponding mobile unit 31 m is located midway between scanners127 b and 127 n. As another example, a set of scanners forming a closedregular polygon and each receiving the TID at just above a predeterminedsignal strength threshold are identified and the personal mobile deviceis automatically determined to be at the center of formed polygon (e.g.,a triangle, rectangle, etc.). The scanners report their respectivedetections and measurements to a local server 336. The local server 336then consults with a database or expert rules knowledge base to pinpointthe most likely one or more locations for the targeted customer in viewof other factors (e.g., background noise, radio reflections, etc.) thatmay be currently present at the venue. The pinpointed one or morelocations are then relayed to the tracking database, for example intoentries region 34 m.5. The entries region 34 m.5 may store a history ofrecent locations and prediction of where the tracked user is most likelyto be next located. A human or robotic server for assisting in quickdelivery of the requested goods and/or services may then be dispatchedto the predicted location of the customer.

In one embodiment, signal coupling from each of the fine resolutionscanners (127 a-127 n) to the local server 336 is a wireless one such asconducted over a Wi-Fi network. Alternatively, Bluetooth™ signals may beused where one scanner (e.g., 127 a) relays its detections andmeasurements to the next adjacent scanner (e.g., 127 b) and so on untilthe collected detection and measurement reports are relayed to the localserver 336. Signals coupling link 335 represents the various ways inwhich the respective detections and measurements of the scanners (127a-127 n) are relayed to the local server 336. The signals coupling link335 may be a wired one and/or may include wired and wireless subportionsas opposed to being an all wireless signals coupling link.

In one embodiment, after receiving the respective detections andmeasurements of the scanners as well as the detected TID sequence, thelocal server 336 connects via the Internet 320 to the order managementserver 340 b. The order management server 340 b uses the relayed TIDsequence to reference the corresponding customer order details 34 m.1-34m.7 of user Um and his/her corresponding order. The order managementserver 340 b may additionally consult with an expert knowledge base 356(example shown in server 340′) to determine, based on the relayed signalmeasurements of the scanners, what the one or more most likely currentlocations of the customer are at the respective venue and for the extantconditions there. When the ordered goods and/or services are ready fordelivery to or pickup by the customer, the order management server 340 breports the latest one or more most likely locations of theestablishment. For example the report may be in the form of a sortedlist of most to least likely locations. In one embodiment, after pickupor delivery is reported as complete, the corresponding TID is erasedfrom the user's mobile device and also from the database storagelocations (e.g., 34 m.3) so as to preserve privacy.

Aside from the end-user devices (e.g., 315, . . . , 31 m) and the cloudservers (e.g., 340 b) the system 300 comprises: one or more wired and/orwireless communication fabrics 316, 325, 335 (shown in the form ofbidirectional interconnects) intercoupling the end-user client devices(e.g., 315, . . . , 31 m) with the various networked servers (e.g., 336,340 a, 340 b, 340′).

Still referring to FIG. 3 , a further walk through is provided here withrespect to detailed components that may be found in one or more of themobile devices and/or respective servers. Item 311 represents a firstuser-activateable software application (first mobile app) that may belaunched from within the exemplary mobile client 315 (e.g., asmartphone, but could instead be a tablet, a laptop, a wearablecomputing device; i.e. smartwatch or other). Item 312 represents asecond such user-activateable software application (second mobile app)and generally there are many more. Each end-user installed application(e.g., 311, 312) can come in the form of nontransiently recorded digitalcode (i.e. object code or source code) that is defined and stored in amemory for instructing a target class of data processing units toperform in accordance with end-user-side defined application programs(‘mobile apps’ for short) as well as to cooperate with server sideapplications implemented on the other side of communications links 316,325, etc. In one embodiment and the case where an order is placed forrespective goods and/or services by way of a non-mobile or not normallyused client machine (e.g., a desktop computer), the order managementserver 340 b automatically recognizes this condition and uses dataavailable in the customer's profile 34 m.1 to access the user's normallycarried, personal mobile device and to transfer the assigned TID to thatnormally carried personal mobile device. In this instance, it isunderstood that appropriate, vendor provided software has been preloadedinto the normally carried personal mobile device for securely enablingsuch transfer of the TID to the targeted mobile device. In this way,even if the customer places the order by way of a home desktop computerand then arrives at the venue with his/her normally-used mobile device,the customer tracking subsystem will still work.

More generally, each app (e.g., 311, 312, 317) may come from a differentbusiness or other enterprise and may require the assistance of variousand different online resources (e.g., Internet, Intranet and/or cloudcomputing resources). Each enterprise may be responsible for maintainingin good operating order its portions of the system (e.g., localscanners, local servers, Internet, Intranet and/or cloud computingresources). Accordingly, the system 300 is shown as including in atleast one server 340′, an expert knowledge base 356 which containsvarious kinds of different expert rules for handling differentconditions. One set of expert rules may provide for optimized customerlocation pinpointing when all the scanners (e.g., 127 a-127 n) at agiven venue or venue observable area 327 are operational. Another set ofexpert rules may provide for less than optimum but acceptable customerlocation pinpointing when less than all of the scanners are operationaland/or background noise is high. Yet another set of expert rules mayprovide for variable location determination based on different sets offurniture layout at each respective venue and/or based on expected radiointerferences and/or reflections at the given venue. Yet other of theexpert rules may relate to categorizing different types of transactionsand details about how to handle them, including how to resolve variousproblematic issues.

In addition to the expert knowledge base 356, one or more other portionsof the system 300 may contain interaction tracking resources 351configured for tracking interactions between customers and respectivevendors and an interactions storing database 352 configured for storingand recalling the tracked interactions. Links 353 a (to a further server340 c), 353 b, 353 c and 353 d represent various ways in which thesystem resources may communicate one with the other.

As mentioned, block 340′ is representative of various resources that maybe found in client computers and/or the various servers. These resourcesmay include one or more local data processing units (e.g., CPU's 341),one or more local data storage units (e.g., RAM's 342, ROM's 343, Disks346), one or more local data communication units (e.g., COMM units 347),and a local backbone (e.g., local bus 345) that operatively couples themtogether as well as optionally coupling them to yet further ones oflocal resources 348. The other local resources 348 may include, but arenot limited to, specialized high speed graphics processing units (GPU's,not shown), specialized high speed digital signal processing units(DSPU's, not shown), custom programmable logic units (e.g., FPGA's, notshown), analog-to-digital interface units (A/D/A units, not shown),parallel data processing units (e.g., SIMD's, MIMD's, not shown), localuser interface terminals and so on.

It is to be understood that various ones of the merely exemplary andillustrated, “local” resource units (e.g., 341-348) may include or maybe differentiated into more refined kinds. For example, the local CPU's(only one shown as 341) may include single core, multicore andintegrated-with-GPU kinds. The local storage units (e.g., 342, 343, 346)may include high speed SRAM, DRAM kinds as well as configured forreprogrammable, nonvolatile solid state data storage (SSD) and/ormagnetic and/or other phase change kinds. The localcommunication-implementing units (only one shown as 347) may operativelycouple to various external data communicating links such as wired,wireless, long range, short range, serial, parallel, optical kindstypically operating in accordance with various ones of predeterminedcommunication protocols (e.g., internet transfer protocols, TCP/IP,Wi-Fi, Bluetooth™ and so on). Similarly, the other local resources (onlyone shown as 348) may operatively couple to various externalelectromagnetic or other linkages 348 a and typically operate inaccordance with various ones of predetermined operating protocols.Additionally, various kinds of local software and/or firmware may beoperatively installed in one or more of the local storage units (e.g.,342, 343, 346) for execution by the local data processing units (e.g.,341) and for operative interaction with one another. The various kindsof local software and/or firmware may include different operatingsystems (OS's), various security features (e.g., firewalls), differentnetworking programs (e.g., web browsers), different application programs(e.g., product ordering, game playing, social media use, etc.) and soon.

The advantages of the present teachings over the art are numerous. It isto be understood that the present teachings are not to be limited tospecific disclosed embodiments. In the above description and for sake ofsimplicity, a fast food restaurant venue is described. However, thisdisclosure may be applied, but not limited to, theaters (e.g., dinnertheaters), stadiums, arenas, train stations, airports, big box storepickup areas and many other venues where it is desirable to track andpinpoint the location of a user of a normally carried and/or wornpersonal mobile device without encumbering the user to carry otherdevices not belonging to the user and/or not normally carried by theuser.

FIG. 6A illustrates a method 600 for receiving requests (e.g., orders)for goods and/or services from patrons (e.g., 261), determining spatialand/or chronological separation distances of identified recipients(e.g., 262) of the goods/services from scheduled provisioning spots(e.g., 262 f,g) where the method includes determining spatial and/orchronological distance to a relatively fine level of resolution (e.g.,to within two feet of pinpoint location or within seconds away ofarrival time) for each identified recipient when that recipient entersan area scanned by the establishment, the fine resolution method using apersonal mobile device carried by the recipient. Entry for first-timeuse of the method 600 may occur at 605, whereas later entry may occur at615. In step 610 a user downloads into his/her normally used personalmobile device (e.g., smartphone 315, or a smartwatch or another normallyor routinely carried and/or worn personal wireless device) an order orrequest submitting and progress advisement application (app) that isconfigured for placing orders or requests to one or more prespecifiedvendors and/or vendor venues (e.g., fast food establishments, sit-downrestaurants, big box store item pickup areas) and for then providing anidentified recipient with progress information such as when, where andhow to receive the requested goods and/or services. It is within thecontemplation of the present disclosure that the order or requestsubmitting portion and the progress advisement portion are provided astwo or more separate programs rather than one combined app. The order orrequest submitting and progress advisement application (app) may bedownloaded via the Internet and from one or more vendor-specifiedwebsites. In one embodiment, the order or request submitting app mayfirst be downloaded into a desktop or laptop computer of a user (e.g.,261) and used for ordering where after the progress advisement portionis transferred into a personal mobile device (e.g., 262) of anidentified recipient (could be same as the order placer) for executionin that personal mobile device (e.g., 315).

In a subsequent step 620, the user launches the app as a foregroundexecuted process on his/her normally used personal mobile device (e.g.,smartphone 315) and orders or requests various goods and/or services forprovisioning at one or more app-compatible vendor venues in accordancewith order-placing guidances provided by the app. Typically, the appwill cooperate with an in-cloud server and obtain an identification ofthe user and an identification of a time range in which the user expectsprovisioning of the ordered goods and/or services to occur. Once theordering details are completed, the in-cloud server will download aunique and temporary identification number or other sequence (TID) tothe personal mobile device (315) where this TID is uniquely associatedwith the specific order. The app will also establish within the user'spersonal mobile device one or more background peripheral services (BPSs)which may be dynamically connected to by external devices (e.g., thescanners 127 a-127 n at or near the vendor's venue). When a first ofthese established BPSs is connected to, and it temporarily awakens,broadcasts a Bluetooth™ signal containing the TID that has been assignedto the order and then goes back to sleep. The first BPS does not blockthe user from accessing foreground applications or services on his/herpersonal mobile device and does not consume significant battery power.Steps 610 and 620 may be carried out in the user's transport vehicle,home, office or elsewhere as convenient. They need not occur while theuser is present in the vendor's scanners-covered establishment. In oneembodiment, a second of the BPSs causes the user's mobile device torelay to a vendor accessible server (e.g., 340 b), current locationinformation of the mobile device as determined based on connection tocellular telephony equipment. In one embodiment, a second of the BPSscauses the user's mobile device to relay to a vendor accessible server,current location information of the mobile device as determined based onreceived GPS signals.

In a subsequent step 622 the user (U1) travels towards the establishmentand eventually enters a scanners-covered area of the vendor'sestablishment while carrying his/her normally used mobile device (e.g.,smart phone 315). For one class of embodiments (e.g., Apple iPhones™)the operating system (OS) of the mobile device automatically detectspresence of external Bluetooth™ devices and occasionally broadcasts itsown Bluetooth™ signals to thereby autonomously advertise its presence inthe area and declare a current hardware address code (HAC) by way ofwhich the personal device may be addressed. In one embodiment, the OSoccasionally changes the HAC by which it is to be addressed.

In step 624 a Bluetooth™ receiver (e.g., one of scanners 127 a-127 n)detects the advertised HAC and checks a local database to determine ifthat HAC is already recorded in an area of the database listing currentin-venue HAC's. If not there, the new HAC is added to the currentin-venue HAC's listing with a timestamp indicating time of firstrecognition (e.g., first entry) into the scanned area. Old HAC's havinga timestamp earlier than a moving time window may be automaticallydeleted from the listing by a garbage collecting subroutine.

Also in step 624, the detected HAC is used to address the correspondingpersonal device and to attempt to dynamically connect to theaforementioned first background peripheral service (BPS) that may havebeen established inside that personal device. If it is true that thefirst BPS has been established inside that personal mobile device, thefirst BPS is temporarily awakened, it responds by transmitting aBluetooth™ signal including the uniquely-assigned TID and then it goesto sleep again.

Step 625 represents the case where the addressed personal mobile devicedoes not return a TID (No TID). There could be a number of differentreasons for this. One of them is that the user has not yet placed anorder using the ordering app. Another is that the user may havetemporarily shut off his/her personal mobile device and/or temporarilystepped out and away from the scanners-covered area. In such casescontrol is returned to one of steps 620, 622 and 624 as appropriate. Thedashed return lines represent the selective choice of which of steps 622and 624 is to be returned to based on circumstances.

Step 626 represents the case where the addressed personal mobile devicedoes (Yes) return a TID. This condition informs the system that thein-venue and responding personal mobile device (315) has been used toplace an order and the returned TID identifies that order (andoptionally the person who placed the order, when so done and from whereand/or who is to be the recipient of the requested goods and/orservices). The local database is then updated to logically associate thecurrent HAC of the responding mobile device with the returned TID andwith the corresponding order of requested goods and/or services (e.g.,as provided via pickup window 112).

At subsequent step 630, each of the individual scanners in thescanners-covered area (e.g., 327) determines if it received the returnedTID and if so (if the transmitted signal has a strength above apredetermined signal strength threshold), at what relative level ofsignal strength. The determined relative levels of signal strength(where 0 may indicate no TID signal detected above background noise atthis time and 10 may indicate a TID detected at maximal signal strength)are returned to the database for analysis. In one embodiment an expertknowledge database system has location determining rules pre-stored init for the respective local venue where the rules are heuristicallydeveloped and optimize the pinpointing of one or more most locations, toa desired level of resolution (e.g., to within 2 feet), of where the TIDoutputting mobile device is located. The determined pinpoint location isreported to an order management system. In one embodiment, the ordermanagement system tracks movements of the user and/or his/her personalmobile device so as to determine whether the user has settled at arelatively stable waiting location (e.g., 122) and what the coordinatesof that location are or whether the user is advancing along a physicalqueue (e.g., 121, 110) towards a quick pickup window (e.g., 112) orcounter. The order management system may then dispatch instructions toappropriate human and/or robotic service providers to advance or delaythe preparation and/or production of the requested goods and/or servicesso that provisioning of the goods/services timely intersects with thedetermined or predicted location of the recipient in accordance with acurrent provisioning plan (e.g., one defined by wait-list 500 of FIG.5A). Available level (e.g., fineness of) of location resolution may bedependent on the number of, closeness to each of the other of, andlocations of the scanners (127 a-127 n) as well as whether all of themare operational, on background noise then present in thescanners-covered area, on signal strength measurement capabilities ofthe scanners, on radio signal reflection properties of the area, ontransmission strengths of respective personal mobile devices ofrespective users and other factors.

Step 632 represents a waiting time for the being-tracked user (e.g.,U1). During this waiting time 632, the user may access and use one ormore foreground apps and/or services of his/her personal mobile devicewhile not interfering with the occasional and temporary reawakening's ofthe TID-broadcasting first background peripheral service (BPS). Theuser-accessible one or more foreground apps and/or services may includegames, web browsers, email applications, social media applications andso forth. The user therefore can be entertained or may conduct worktasks while waiting for delivery of the requested goods and/or services.One of the foreground apps and/or services may be the order progressadvisement app (see GUI's of FIGS. 4A-4D) which advises the user aboutthe progress of, and/or currently planned time, location and method ofproviding the requested goods and/or services to that user.

While the user is waiting (as represented by step 632), a concurrent andautomatically repeated other step 635 attempts to reconnect to theestablished first BPS of the HAC-addressed personal mobile device so asto again awaken the first BPS, have it repeat its transmission of thecorresponding TID and then go back to sleep. If in the HAC-addressedpersonal mobile device responds again with the assigned TID (Yes), flowpath 636 is taken and as long as the requested goods and/or serviceshave not yet been provided (as determined in step 639), control returnsto step 630 from which the loop is repeated as long as a TID is returnedat step 635. The frequency of repetition of connection re-attemptingstep 635 may be a variable one. Each time the connection attempt is madeand responded to by the user's personal mobile device, battery power isconsumed in the mobile device. Thus to minimize consumption of batterycharge out of the personal mobile device, the scanning system mayintelligently vary the rate of its connection re-attempts 635 based oninferred states of the user. More specifically, if the user appears tobe settled into a relatively stable state (e.g., 122) with minimizedrelocation, the rate of re-attempts can be reduced, for example down toa predetermined minimum rate, to thereby reduce battery consumption inthe mobile device. On the other hand, if the user and/or his/her mobiledevice appear to be still moving/re-locating by speeds greater than apredetermined threshold and/or by distances greater than the desireddegree of resolution (e.g., 2 feet), then the rate of connectionre-attempting 635 may have to be increased, for example up to apredetermined maximum rate for sake of keeping track of where the useris and/or for predicting where the user is heading towards and/orpredicting when the user will arrive at a pre-scheduled provisioningspot (e.g., 262 f,g).

If the result of reconnection attempting step 635 is that no TID isreturned, then path 237 a is instead taken. For sake of security, someoperating systems (e.g., that of the Apple iPhones™) automaticallyrepeatedly change their hardware address code (HAC) on a semi-randombasis. Thus, if no TID is returned at reconnection attempting step 635,the likelihood is that the targeted personal mobile device has changed(e.g., rotated) its current HAC. The new HAC will have beenautomatically determined in step 622 (which is carried out repeatedlyfor sake of finding other in-venue devices) and used for invoking thefirst BPS of the mobile device, receiving the TID and storing the resultin the local database. Step 638 represents the recognition that thischange of HAC has happened and represents an updating of the database toerase the cross association between the TID and the old and now obsoleteHAC while reconfiguring the process to instead use the new HAC. Controlmay then be passed via flow path 637 b to step 635 (or alternatively tobypass 635 and proceed along flow path 636) so the loop continues untilthe order management system determines at step 639 that the goods and/orservices have been provided to the tracked user.

After the requested goods and/or services have been satisfactorilyprovided to the tracked user, flow path 640 is followed to step 642where the tracking BPSs are automatically deleted from the user'spersonal mobile device and the TID is automatically deleted from thelocal database. This deletion step 642 assures that the BPSs and TID areephemeral objects which disappear after the order has been fulfilled. Asa result, the system stops tracking the user because no TID is returnedwhen step 624 later attempts to reconnect to that personal mobiledevice. The user's privacy is therefore secured in that the details ofthe delivered order can no longer be found using the temporarilyassigned TID.

Referring to FIG. 6B, further aspects of the order management process isdepicted as machine-implemented method 650. Entry may be made at step651. In step 652 the method automatically determines which locationdetermining method (e.g., telephony, GPS, WiFi hot spots, fineresolution scanners) can provide the finest level of resolution and usesit to determine how far away an identified prospective recipient isdistance-wise from a currently planned provisioning spot and timewisefrom a currently planned provisioning time (e.g., appointment time). Therecipient is referred to as being prospective because no commitment hasyet been made to provide the goods/services. The place and time ofprovisioning is still in a changeable planning state rather than inscheduled and committed to states.

In subsequent step 653, the determined separation distance (e.g.,effective distance) and/or determined chronological separation is usedfor determining if and when to commit to fulfilling the online-maderequest for the goods/services. In one embodiment, the decision tocommit is postponed to a later time. If the commitment is made, in oneembodiment, a further decision uses the determined distance (e.g.,effective distance) and/or determined chronological separation to decidewhen (e.g., and optionally how) to inform the recipient (and/ororder-placer) of the commitment. There can be instances whereprobability of fulfilling the order changes (e.g., is trending towardsincreasing or decreasing based on states of other orders) and theestablishment wishes to delay its internal commitment and/or theinforming of the recipient as to the commitment until a computedprobability of fulfilling the order and/or its trend cross predeterminedthresholds.

In subsequent step 654, the determined separation distance (e.g.,effective distance) and/or determined chronological separation is usedfor determining if and when to start initial preparation steps (e.g., A,B, C, . . . of block 274) for the corresponding order.

In subsequent step 655, the selecting of the best available,recipient's-location determining method is repeated and the selectedmethod is used to make more accurate predictions of how far away therecipient is distance-wise from the scheduled provisioning spot and/ortimewise from the scheduled provisioning time.

In subsequent step 657, a determination is made as whether to beginnon-reversible actions with respect to the requested provisioning of theTID-identified goods/services (e.g., start cooking the raw materials)based on the most recent determination and/or prediction of where theprospective recipient is located and how long it would take for theprospective recipient to arrive at an appropriate or acceptableprovisioning spot (e.g., 262 f and/or 262 g). If the result of thedetermination in step 657 is No, control is returned to step 655 forrepeated location and separation determinations as well as optionally,predicting where the recipient next will be and how long it will take toarrive at a prospective provisioning spot.

If the result of the determination in step 657 is Yes, thenon-reversible actions are begun with respect to further preparationand/or production steps (e.g., . . . , X, Y, Z of block 278) forcorresponding provisioning of the goods/services at the scheduled time(e.g., notification 428 of FIG. 4B) and planned provisioning spot (e.g.,notification 429 of FIG. 4B). In one embodiment, the commitment to, orconfirmation of the order/request is made at this time and the recipientis informed of this commitment and/or confirmation (e.g., notification424 of FIG. 4B) and

In subsequent step 660, while the further preparation and/or productionsteps are proceeding, the location determining and predicting steps arerepeated, preferably at finer levels of resolution (especially as therecipient gets closer and closer to the planned provisioning spot) andat the same time determination's and predictions are repeatedly made forcompletion of the finalizing preparation and/or production steps (e.g.,. . . , X, Y, Z of block 278) to verify that the requestedgoods/services will likely to a relatively high probability (e.g.,better than 67%) be provided at the planned provisioning spot andscheduled provisioning time. Additionally, predictions are made withrespect to capacity for accommodating the arriving recipient at theplanned provisioning spot so that the recipient will not encounterunacceptably long queuing lines and/or queuing times when arriving atthe planned provisioning spot (e.g., quick pickup drive-through lane).

In subsequent step 665, the results of step 660 are analyzed todetermine if current measurements for progress of the recipient and forprogress of the in-preparation and/or in-production goods/services areproceeding substantially as predicted and/or planned for. If Yes,control is returned to step 660 for further measurement taking andpredicting until the provisioning of the requested goods/servicescompletes (shortly after which point the tracking ceases and the TID forthe order is retired). On the other hand, if test step 665 indicatesthat one or more of the predictions will not be met (No), controladvances to step 670 where the recipient is advised of changes to thecurrent plans and optionally asked whether these changes are acceptable.An example of a notification of changed plans may be seen innotification blocks 434 and 439 of FIG. 4C. An example of whereadditional options are given to the recipient are implied bynotification block 449 of FIG. 4D. the recipient may accept the proposedchanges as is; in which case control returns to step 657 wherecommitment to the revised plans is made and corresponding preparationand/or production steps are pursued. Alternatively, if the recipientdoes not accept the initially proposed change of plans, control advancesto step 675 where the recipient is given various other options includingfor example the possibility of canceling the order, of receiving someform of goodwill compensation for the inconvenience and of pickingalternate goods/services in place of the originally requested ones. Ifthe recipient accepts or selects one of the offered alternate options,control returns to step 657 where commitment to the revised plans ismade and corresponding preparation and/or production steps are pursued.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein may be implemented using one or more hardwarecomputer systems that execute software programs. Further, in anexemplary, non-limited embodiment, implementations can includedistributed processing, component/object distributed processing, andparallel processing. Virtual computer system processing can beconstructed to implement one or more of the methods or functionalitiesas described herein, and a processor described herein may be used tosupport a virtual processing environment.

Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatuses(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of thedisclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a digital processor of a digital programmable computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable instruction execution apparatus, create amechanism for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchartand/or block diagram block or blocks. All instructions need not beexecuted a by same one processor and can instead be distributed among aplurality of operatively cooperative processors. The terminology, ‘atleast one processor’ as used herein is to be understood as covering bothoptions, namely having one processor execute the all instructions ordistributing the instructions for execution by two or more processors.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularaspects only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The description of the present disclosure has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or limited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of thedisclosure. The aspects of the disclosure herein were chosen anddescribed in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure andthe practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in theart to understand the disclosure with various modifications as aresuited to the particular use contemplated.

For purposes of this document, each process associated with thedisclosed technology may be performed continuously or on an interruptedmulti-tasking basis and by one or more computing devices. Each step in aprocess may be performed by the same or different computing devices asthose used in other steps, and each step need not necessarily beperformed by a single computing device.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method responsive to locations of prospectiverecipients of online requested goods/services, the method carried out byor on behalf of a prospective provider of the requested goods/servicesand comprising: assigning a unique and temporary transactionidentification sequence (TID) to a prospective recipient and togoods/services requested to be provided to the prospective recipient ata provisioning spot at which the goods/services are planned to beprovided; sending the assigned TID to a mobile device of the prospectiverecipient for temporary storage in the mobile device, where the sent TIDis deleted from the mobile device when a transaction associated with theTID completes upon providing the requested goods/service; repeatedlydetermining a location of the mobile device based on repeated wirelesstransmissions from the mobile device, the wireless transmissionsincluding the assigned and temporarily stored TID; repeatedlydetermining separation between the prospective recipient and the plannedprovisioning spot based on the repeatedly determined location of themobile device; repeatedly determining whether to commit to providing therequested goods/services, where the determination on whether to commitis based on the repeatedly determined location of the mobile device andits corresponding separation from the planned provisioning spot; and inresponse to determining to not yet commit, withholding notification tothe prospective recipient that a commitment has been made to provide therequested good/services.
 2. The method of claim 1, and furthercomprising: in response to determining to commit, informing theprospective recipient of the commitment to providing the requestedgoods/services.
 3. The method of claim 2, and further comprising: inresponse to the repeatedly determined separation of the prospectiverecipient from the planned provisioning spot, determining when to committo providing the requested goods/services and when to inform theprospective recipient of the commitment.
 4. The method of claim 2wherein said informing the prospective recipient of the commitmentincludes at least one of: sending the prospective recipient a textualnotification of the commitment; and sending the prospective recipient anaudio notification of the commitment.
 5. The method of claim 2 whereinsaid informing the prospective recipient of the commitment includes atleast one of: notifying the prospective recipient of a scheduled time ortime window for the providing of the requested goods/services; notifyingthe prospective recipient of a scheduled place for the providing of therequested goods/services; and notifying the prospective recipient of aplanned method for the providing of the requested goods/services.
 6. Themethod of claim 5 and further comprising: notifying the prospectiverecipient of a change in at least one of the scheduled time or timewindow for the providing of the requested goods/services, the scheduledplace of providing and the planned method of providing.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, and further comprising: in response to determining to commit,determining when to begin at least one of non-reversible preparationsand non-reversible production for providing the requested goods/servicesat the planned provisioning spot and within a scheduled time window. 8.The method of claim 7 and further comprising: in response to a mostrecent determined separation, determining how much further to continuewith at least one of preparations and production for providing therequested goods/services at the planned provisioning spot and within ascheduled time window.
 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the scheduledtime window for the provisioning of the requested goods/servicesincludes or precedes a predicted time for when the prospective recipientwill arrive at the planned provisioning spot.
 10. The method of claim 9wherein the requested goods/services decay in quality after completionof preparations and production and wherein the scheduled time windowdoes not precede the predicted time for when the prospective recipientwill arrive at the planned provisioning spot.
 11. The method of claim 10wherein the requested goods/services include a providing of hot and/orchilled food items.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein repeatedlydetermining of the location of the mobile device based on wirelesstransmissions from the mobile device includes use of at least two of:cellular telephony information; GPS information; WiFi communications;and Bluetooth™ communications.
 13. The method of claim 12 whereinrepeatedly determining of the location of the mobile device based onrepeated wireless transmissions from the mobile device includes use ofat least one of said WiFi communications and said Bluetooth™communications.
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein repeatedly determiningof the location of the mobile device based on wireless transmissions bythe mobile device comprises: obtaining a current hardware address of thedetected mobile device; using the obtained current hardware address torepeatedly attempt to dynamically connect to a predetermined backgroundperipheral service (BPS) installed in the mobile device, where the BPSis configured to output a wireless signal including the temporarytransaction identification sequence (TID) when the BPS is connected to,the TID being one that has been pre-assigned to the BPS; receiving atone or more of scanners installed at a venue having the plannedprovisioning spot, the wireless signal output by the BPS; determining astrength of the received wireless signal and acquiring the TID providedwithin the received wireless signal; sending the determined signalstrength and acquired TID to at least one of plural data processors;processing the sent signal strength by at least one of the dataprocessors to thereby determine a location of the detected mobile deviceto within a predetermined spatial resolution; and outputting by at leastone of the data processors a location signal representing the determinedlocation and identification of the detected mobile device.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the BPS is configured to go to sleep afteroutputting the wireless signal including the TID.
 16. The method ofclaim 14, wherein the current hardware address of the detected mobiledevice is one that is occasionally automatically changed by the detectedmobile device, the method further comprising: generating, by at leastone of the data processors, a logical association between the acquiredTID and the current hardware address of the detected mobile device. 17.The method of claim 14, wherein the obtaining of the current hardwareaddress of the detected mobile device is based on the mobile deviceautonomously advertising its presence wirelessly, the autonomouslyproduced advertisement including the current hardware address of themobile device.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein a bit position of thecurrent hardware address of the mobile device within the autonomouslyproduced advertisement is displaced by a predetermined distance from aconsistent signature portion of the advertisement and the obtaining ofthe current hardware address of the detected mobile device includessearching for the signature portion and then locating the currenthardware address at its respective bit position using the predetermineddistance.
 19. The method of claim 14, wherein the wireless signal outputby the BPS is a Bluetooth™ signal.
 20. The method of claim 14, whereinthe predetermined spatial resolution is about one meter or less.
 21. Themethod of claim 14, and further comprising: determining when thetransaction is complete and in response to the determined completion,erasing at least one of the TID and the BPS.
 22. An apparatus that isresponsive to locations of prospective recipients of online requestedgoods/services that are requested to be provided at planned provisioningspots, the online requested goods/services to be provided by aprospective provider of the requested goods/services, the apparatuscomprising: at least one of plural processors controlled by theprospective provider and operating to assign a temporary transactionidentification sequence (TID) to a prospective recipient and to atransaction involving the requested goods/services of the prospectiverecipient that are requested online to be provided by the prospectiveprovider at a respective planned provisioning spot, the assigned TIDbeing one that is unique to the online requested goods/services and onethat is deleted when the transaction completes upon providing therequested goods/service; at least one of plural processors controlled bythe prospective provider and operating to download the assigned TID intoa location revealing mobile device of the prospective recipient; atleast one of plural processors controlled by the prospective providerand operating to repeatedly determine a location of the locationrevealing mobile device based on wireless transmissions by the mobiledevice, the transmissions providing the assigned TID; based on therepeatedly determined location, at least one of plural processorsoperating to determine how far away the prospective recipient is fromthe planned provisioning spot in terms of at least one of radialdistance, effective distance and chronological distance; at least one ofplural processors responding to at least one of the determineddistance-wise and/or timewise separations of the prospective recipientfrom the planned provisioning spot, and operating to determine whetherto commit to providing the requested goods/services; at least one ofplural processors responding to the determination to commit, andresponsively informing the prospective recipient of the commitment; andat least one of plural processors responding to completion of thetransaction by deleting the TID from the mobile device.
 23. A computersystem comprising one or more processors and a memory havingcollectively stored therein instructions that, when executed by the oneor more processors, cause the one or more processors to: assign atemporary transaction identification sequence (TID) to a prospectiverecipient and to a transaction involving a prospective provider andgoods/services requested online by the prospective recipient to beprovided by the prospective provider at a respective plannedprovisioning spot, the assigned TID being one that is unique to theonline requested goods/services and one that is deleted when thetransaction completes upon the prospective provider providing therequested goods/service; download the assigned TID into a locationrevealing mobile device of the prospective recipient; repeatedlydetermine a location of the location revealing mobile device based onwireless transmissions by the mobile device, the transmissions providingthe assigned TID; based on the repeatedly determined location, determinehow far away the prospective recipient is from the planned provisioningspot in terms of at least one of radial distance, effective distance andchronological distance; in response to at least one of the determineddistance-wise and/or timewise separations of the prospective recipientfrom the planned provisioning spot, determine whether the prospectiveprovider will commit to providing the requested goods/services; inresponse to determining to commit, inform the prospective recipient ofthe commitment; and in response to completion of the transaction,deleting the TID from the mobile device.